We plan to continue to analyze the effect of decreasing continous sympathetic nervous impulses on the metabolism of the arterial wall. In the past years we developed a series of assays to test the efficacy of the sympathetic nervous system, specifically the one supplying the arterial wall. We demonstrated, that the sympathectomy in combination with additional metabolic interventions such as cholesterol supplement in the diet, will significantly increase fatty deposits in the arteries when compared with fully innervated control animals. Furthermore, the effect of prolonged hypoxia on the arterial wall innervation will be analyzed together with vessel wall histology and the lipids composition. The results from hypoxic rabbits will be compared with results from full innervated animals.